The 1920s, caught between World War I and the Great Depression, exemplified an era of great progress but persistent traditionalism; however the period triggered a dramatic cultural shift. With a combination of positive and negative forces, the events that characterized that era reflected American society and its strong diversity. Positive forces were characterized by economics and consumerism, women's new sexual and political freedom, the New Negro, the morality of Prohibition, while negative forces included the wealth gap, women's traditional gender roles with slavery to raising children who unleashed their support for Prohibition, and the fear of the other: exercised by the Red Scare, the KKK, and anti-immigration policy. Thanks to modern technological breakthroughs, a significant economic boom and ideology were made possible, but the rise of corporations and the concentration of corporate wealth ultimately led to a huge wealth gap among citizens. As for economic growth from about 1923 to 1929, national income increased by 150%, productivity increased by more than 60%, and corporate profits increased by more than 60%. The idea of ​​big business was greatly intensified when Calvin Coolidge supported the “business of America is business” ideology; for this reason Americans also celebrated business as the embodiment of the highest American ideals. Professional business writer Edward Purinton in Big Ideas from Business: Try Them for Yourself! he declared that America also represented business, but among other things it truly represented the salvation of the world. He writes: “What is the best game? Commercial activity. The most valid science? Commercial activity. The truest art? Commercial activity. The most complete education? Commercial activity. The best opportunity? Commercial activity. The cleanest philanthropy? Commercial activity. The same…half of the paper…freedoms were destroyed. In turn, the 1920s revealed progress; the word progress is important to use as it indicates change in a positive direction but not to completion. PS The footnotes made my article go over 8 pages. Works Cited Johnson, Michael P. Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Print.Logsdon, Jonathan. "Power, Ignorance, and Anti-Semitism: Henry Ford and His War on the Jews." history.hanover.edu. Web.Paschen, Stephen H. and Leonard C. Schlup. The United States in the 1920s as observed in contemporary records: the Ballyhoo years. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 2007. Print.Roark, James L. The American Promise. a history of the United States. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.Sagert, Kelly Boyer. Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood, 2010. Print.